Marburg Mercenaries

The Marburg Mercenaries are an American football team from Marburg, Germany.

Marburg Mercenaries
Founded1991
LeagueGerman Football League
Based inMarburg, Germany
StadiumGeorg-Gaßmann-Stadion
ColorsRed, White and Black
     
ChampionshipsEFAF Cup: 2005
Division titlesGFL South: 2004–2006, 2008, 2010
Websitewww.mercenaries.de/de/

Internationally, the club's greatest success came in 2005, when it won the EFAF Cup, followed by a losing appearance in the Eurobowl in 2007.[1] Domestically, the team's greatest achievement was to reach the 2006 German Bowl, where the team lost to the Braunschweig Lions.[2]

History

The Marburg Mercenaries were formed in 1991 under the official name of AFV Marburg Mercenaries e.V..[1]

The club entered competitive league football in the following year, playing in the tier-five Verbandsliga Hessen, a regional league in its home state of Hesse. The Mercenaries gradually worked their way up through the local league system, culminating in a title in the tier-three Regionalliga Mitte in 1997, which allowed the club to take up promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga.[1]

For the next five years, the team played in the southern division of this league, once more gradually improving its performances, to a point where they won their division in 2001 and 2002. In its first attempt at promotion to the German Football League, the team failed however, losing to the Franken Knights in both promotion games. It performed much better the following year, defeating the Munich Cowboys in both promotion games and moving up into the GFL.[3]

The Mercenaries first season at this level became a struggle, winning only one out of twelve league games, and having to defend their league place against the Simbach Wildcats in the relegation round. With this successfully achieved, the team moved on to much better performances from now on.[3]

The club became a constant contender for the division title from now on, winning it in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 and reaching, as a minimum, the play-off semi finals on each occasion. The team's best season domestically however was 2006, when it reached the German Bowl, where it lost 13–31 to the Braunschweig Lions.[1] Apart from the significances of this achievement to the club, it also broke a thirteen-year drought for the clubs from the southern division, as no southern club had reached the German Bowl since the Munich Cowboys won it in 1993.[3]

Internationally, the Mercenaries won their first title in 2005, when they won the second-tier EFAF Cup. In 2007, the team also participated in the European Football League, where it reached the final, the Eurobowl, but lost quite clearly to the Vikings Vienna.[3]

Marburg has since failed to reach another final, but remains a strong team in the southern division of the GFL. The team came second in its division in 2011, qualifying for the play-offs where they were knocked out by the Düsseldorf Panther in the quarter finals.[4]

In 2012, the club came third in the southern division of the GFL and qualified for the play-off where it was knocked out by Berlin Adler in the quarter finals. The club finished second in 2013 but was again knocked out in the quarter finals of the play-off, this time by the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes.

In the 2014 season the team came third in the southern division of the GFL but lost 22–42 to the Dresden Monarchs in the quarter finals of the play-offs. In 2015, the club came only sixth and missed out on play-off qualification for the first time since 2003.

Honours
  • Eurobowl
    • Runners-up: 2007
  • EFAF Cup:
    • Champions: 2005
  • German Bowl
    • Runners-up: 2006
  • EFL
    • Participations: 2007
  • GFL
    • Southern Division champions: (5) 2004–2006, 2008, 2010
    • Play-off qualification : (13) 2004–2014, 2017, 2019
    • League membership : (17) 2003–present
  • GFL 2
    • Southern Division champions: 2001, 2002

German Bowl appearances

The club has only appeared once in the German Bowl:[2]

BowlDate ChampionsRunners-UpScore LocationAttendance
XXVIIIOctober 7, 2006 Braunschweig LionsMarburg Mercenaries31–13Braunschweig15,897
  • Champions in bold.

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the club:[3][4][5][6][7]

YearDivision FinishPointsPct. GamesWDL PFPA Postseason
2003 GFL (South) 6th 2–220.083 121011 276425 —
2004 1st 13–70.650 10613 233206 Won QF: Hamburg Blue Devils (24–21)
Lost SF: Berlin Adler (30–31)
2005 1st17–30.850 10811 350174 Won QF: Berlin Adler (40–21)
Lost SF: Hamburg Blue Devils (41–42 aet)
2006 1st20–40.833 121002 471214 Won QF: Cologne Falcons (62–0)
Won SF: Hamburg Blue Devils (33–20)
Lost GB: Braunschweig Lions (13–31)
2007 2nd19–50.792 12912 363 191 Won QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (21–16)
Lost SF: Braunschweig Lions (21–26)
2008 1st 18–6 0.750 12903 356206 Won QF: Dresden Monarchs (33–21)
Lost SF: Braunschweig Lions (21–49)
2009 2nd 14–10 0.583 12705 422328 Won QF: Dresden Monarchs (64–63)
Lost SF: Berlin Adler (21–36)
2010 1st 20–4 0.833 121002 437216 Won QF: Braunschweig Lions (31–21)
Lost SF: Berlin Adler (6–17)
2011 2nd 22–4 0.846 131102 392240 Lost QF: Düsseldorf Panther (10–14)
2012 3rd 18–100.643 14905 473339 Lost QF: Berlin Adler (21–35)
2013 2nd 21–70.750 141013 488353 Lost QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (9–47)
2014 3rd18–100.643 14905 476431 Lost QF: Dresden Monarchs (22–42)
2015 6th6–220.214 143011 286484 —
2016 7th4–240.143 142012 284591 —
2017 3rd16–120.571 14806 344320 Lost QF: Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (14–28)
2018 5th12–160.429 14608 366438 —
2019 3rd18–100.643 14905 493378 Lost QF: Dresden Monarchs (22–39)
2020 No season played because of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • RR = Relegation round.
  • QF = Quarter finals.
  • SF = Semi finals.
  • GB = German Bowl
  • The final game of the 2011 season against the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns was not played because of heavy rain on game day.[8]

References
  1. Geschichte (in German) Marburg Mercenaries website - Club history, accessed: 16 January 2011
  2. Bowls Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine GFL website, accessed: 1 January 2011
  3. Football History (in German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 2 January 2010
  4. GFL 2011 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 18 September 2011
  5. GFL 2008 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  6. GFL 2009 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  7. GFL 2010 www.football-aktuell.de, accessed: 2 January 2011
  8. Heimspiel fällt den Fluten zum Opfer (in German) Marburg Mercenaries website, published: 11 September 2011, accessed: 16 September 2011
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